Batman Forever
Batman Forever is the 1995 sequel to Batman Returns and is the third installment in the Burton/Schumacher Batman film series. Batman is up against Two-Face who is terrorising Gotham City and he gets all the more dangerous when he pairs up with a new menace, The Riddler! Plot The movie opens as Two-Face, the alter ego of former DA Harvey Dent, (Tommy Lee Jones) is holding hostages in a bank vault. Batman (Val Kilmer) arrives at the scene and consults with Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman). Batman then rescues the hostages but is unable to foil the robbery. While this is going on, Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey), a lowly worker at Wayne Enterprises is doing unauthorized research at work. He is discovered by a senior worker, who promptly fires him. Nygma murders the man and doctors security tapes to make it look as if the man committed suicide. A while later, Bruce Wayne invites Chase Meridian to the Charity Circus. Two-Face and his thugs arrive at the event, firing guns and terrorizing the audience. They also bring a bomb that Two-Face will detonate if Batman does not appear at the circus. (Two-Face blames Batman for failing to thwart a criminal who threw acid on Dent's face, disfiguring him.) The Flying Graysons, the circus acrobats, work to remove the bomb through an opening in the top of the tent. The youngest member, Dick (Chris O'Donnell), manages to push Two-Face's bomb out of the circus tent and into the water surrounding the tent by going ahead of his family. When he returns, he finds that Two-Face has killed the rest of his family by shooting up the wires that they were climbing on, sending them plunging to their deaths. Feeling sorry for Dick's loss and feeling responsible for Batman's failure to show at the circus, Bruce takes a reluctant and devastated Dick in as a foster son. Meanwhile, Edward Nygma, former employee of Wayne Enterprises, inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus, decides to become his partner, Riddler. He proceeds to show Two-Face a device that beams signals directly into the human brain, which allows television viewers to feel like they are “inside” TV shows. The two villains make a deal: if Two-Face helps him steal enough priceless goods and money to fund his project, the Riddler will use the "Box" to learn Batman's true identity. Their deal sealed, Two-Face and the Riddler start their rampage. The Riddler blows up the batcave and Two-Face kidnaps Robin and Chase. Batman is forced to make a choice between them buts ends up saving both. The Riddler and Two-Face are then defeated with the Riddler going crazy and Two-Face dying. The movie ends with Batman and Robin running at the camera. Cast * Val Kilmer — Bruce Wayne/Batman * Tommy Lee Jones — Harvey Dent/Two-Face * Jim Carrey — Edward Nygma/The Riddler * Nicole Kidman — Dr. Chase Meridian * Chris O'Donnell — Robin/Richard "Dick" Grayson * Michael Gough — Alfred Pennyworth * Pat Hingle — James Gordon * Drew Barrymore — Sugar * Debi Mazar — Spice * Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty Trivia *Even though Batman Returns was a financial success, Warner Bros. felt the film should have made more money and decided to make the film series more mainstream. Tim Burton, who had directed the two previous installments, was asked to restrict himself to the role of producer and approved of Joel Schumacher as director.1 Schumacher originally had in mind an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. The studio rejected the idea as they wanted a sequel, not a prequel, though Schumacher was able to include very brief events in Batman's past. Burton and Schumacher together hired Lee and Janet Scott-Batchler to write the script which introduced a psychotic Riddler with a pet rat accompanying him. The story elements and much of the dialogue still remained in the finished film, though Schumacher felt it could be "lighted down." He hired Akiva Goldsman, whom he previously had worked for on The Client to write the second draft. *Production went on fast track with Rene Russo cast as Dr. Chase Meridian. Michael Keaton decided not to reprise Batman because he did not like the new direction the film series was heading in. Keaton also wanted to pursue "more interesting roles", turning down $15 million to appear in Batman Forever. Val Kilmer was cast days later, and the filmmakers decided that Russo was too old for Kilmer, replacing her with a different actress. Schumacher got interested in Kilmer for Batman after seeing him in Tombstone, and the actor accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Before Val Kilmer was cast, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin and Johnny Depp were under consideration to replace Michael Keaton. *Robin Wright Penn, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Linda Hamilton were in competition for Dr. Chase Meridian, with Penn appearing as the favorable choice. Nicole Kidman was eventually cast. Scheduling conflicts with Braveheart forced Mel Gibson to turn down the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Even though Billy Dee Williams took the role of Harvey Dent in Batman because he was looking forward to portray Two-Face in a sequel, the producers cast Tommy Lee Jones in the role. Jones was always Schumacher's first choice for the role after working with him on The Client. Jones claims he was sent the script and was very cautious to accept, but accepted the part because Two-Face was his son's favorite character. Names thrown out who were considered to play The Riddler include, Damon Wayans, Brad Dourif, Steve Martin (who turned down the role because with the death of his friend John Candy and his divorce from Victoria Tennant he was too sad to make any movies), Matthew Broderick and Michael Jackson. Robin Williams turned down the Riddler, Jim Carrey was eventually cast. Robin appeared in the shooting script of Batman Returns but was deleted due to too many characters. Christian Bale had auditioned for the role of Robin. Ironically in the next few years, he went on to star as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins and its sequel The Dark Knight. Marlon Wayans was cast in the role, and signed for Batman Forever. It was decided to replace Wayans with a different actor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Chris O'Donnell became the top two choices, with O'Donnell winning the part. Mitchell Gaylord served as O'Donnell's stunt double. *Val Kilmer learned he was the new Batman while he was literally in a bat cave in Africa, doing research for The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) He accepted the role without reading the script. *Michelle Pfeiffer was considered to reprise her role as Catwoman. *Director Joel Schumacher wanted Nicole Kidman to play Poison Ivy, but he decided that Ivy, Two-Face and The Riddler would be too many villains for Batman. *Val Kilmer and Tommy Lee Jones appeared together again in The Missing, which also featured subsequent Two-Face actor Aaron Eckhart. Category:Batman Forever 3